I think this is the proposed location for the Le Bijou development. If I'm wrong, please let the thread die.

The property bounded by Jones, 6th & 7th is being worked over. There had been a construction trailer on the property. It is gone, all of the asphalt has been peeled up and hauled off. All light posts, fence posts etc. have been dug out of the ground. There is a new temporary chain link fence up around the property. They made pretty short work of it.

I think this is the porposed location for the Le Bijou development. If I'm wrong, please let the thread die.

The property bounded by Jones, 6th & 7th is being worked over. There had been a construction trailer on the property. It is gone, all of the asphalt has been peeled up and hauled off. All light posts, fence posts etc. have been doug out of the ground. There is a new temporary chain link fence up around the property. They made pretty short work of it.

He had a billboard up for a little while on the way into downtown where the project is located. There has been a lot of speculation on this board about when/if this project was actually going to kick-off. The block is nestled between an inbound and an outbound street at the East entrance to downtown. High visibility. Road noise?

Anyway, in some discussions around here Shaumberg gets a bad rep for announcing things that "never" happen. It gets blown out of proportion, but Le Bijou was first announced over two years ago.

My French isn't very good, so I looked up the meaning of Le Bijou. It means "a small, exquisitely wrought trinket." Pretty good name, actually.

$120,000,000.00 in building permits were issued on July 5th to Urban Dwellings, Inc. The description is Fort Worth - New/Indiv Owned Townhomes. The streets listed are 6th, 7th Jones and Grove. Anyone know which project this is? Mapsco number shows 63W but I don't have a Mapsco.

FORT WORTH-Closing out two years of project preparations, a local developer and architect has started construction on a one-block site at the edge of Sundance Square. The $12-million townhouse development is being sized up by investors and private buyers alike.

"It's a great location," Ken Schaumburg of Schaumburg Architects tells GlobeSt.com. "It will be the only townhouses you'll find abutting Sundance Square. We got a good buy on the property a few years back so it's made it viable to build." The CBD site is bounded by Sixth, Seventh, Jones and Grove streets--a parking lot that's now being scraped by Dallas-based Turner Construction Co. to make way for vertical construction on the 14-unit Le Bijou.

Schaumburg, who has three other projects under way in the city, is still tweaking the final design, but has laid out an ell-shaped development of three-story townhouses with rooftop terrace gardens. The units range from 3,300 sf to 4,800 sf, with sale tags from $800,000 to $1.2 million. Amenities include elevators in each townhouse and two-car garages. The site, wrapping around US Congresswoman Kay Granger's office, has been laid out with an interior courtyard and 10 guest parking spaces.

Dana Seals, Schaumburg's marketing director, says reservations have been placed by investors and private buyers. "We anticipate to be completely sold out before the completion," she says. "We've sold out our other projects before completion and we don't anticipate this will be any different. People really want to live here. It's the only thing like it in the city."

The 20-block Sundance Square is the city's leading draw for tourists and locals. Its 375,819 sf of street-level retail, historically 100% occupied, is anchored by Bass Performance Hall.

Schaumburg, who estimates construction will take 10 months, says he's forging ahead with financing from Omni American Bank in Fort Worth. "It's nice to see it happening," he says.

This actually seems like a pretty cool little development. It will certainly help to fill out the Square, and adds a new dimension to Downtown Fort Worth. There isn't anything like this in the real downtown area is there?

Better Business Bureau: A place to find or post valid complaints for auto delerships and maintenance facilities. (New Features) If you have a valid gripe about auto dealerships, this is the place to voice it.

Yoss, "permit value" represents construction, not land. At this stage, carrying cost would be a total SWAG---don't know if you'll hold for a day, week, month or for the rest of your life--so, er, no carrying costs included. Sorry, I got CARRIED away...

Well, here's an article to "prove" that Le Bijou is really happening, including some other tidbits about Schaumburg development. What's this about the Ruins costing $400/sf? That seems too pricey for what the Ruins has to offer, IMO.

Downtown says bonjour to Le Bijou

Jenny Eure - July 24, 2006

Within a year, Fort Worth homebuyers will have another downtown jewel to call home.

Units for Le Bijou, the $12 million townhome development, are already available for purchase, even though construction began in early July. The development, a product of local architectural guru Ken Schaumburg, will boast 14 three-story townhomes, which will wrap around the block at 709 Jones St., just steps away from Bass Performance Hall.

The townhomes’ chateau-inspired design is emphasized by a 400-square-foot rooftop garden terrace. Every unit is individually designed, and buyers can choose from 3,000 to 5,000-square-foot plans, ranging from $800,000 to $1.2 million.

Homeowners at Le Bijou will have access an interior-unit elevator, a two or three-car garage and their choice of contemporary or classic custom interiors. Amenities include grocery delivery, valet dry cleaning, 50 to 100-square-foot patios, Viking appliances, wrought-iron entry doors, and optional upgrades, ranging from wine-storage closets to rooftop hot tubs.

Schaumburg Architects purchased Le Bijou in July 2004 through its development company, Urban Contractors. Most of the work, including the design of the interiors, will be done in house. Other companies involved in the Le Bijou project are Turner Construction; OmniAmerican, who financed the project; and Doyle Engineering Group, in charge of civil and structural engineering. Hawkes and Associates is overseeing the mechanical, electrical and plumbing engineering design.

Ken Schaumburg said his firm designed the Le Bijou property as part of an effort to serve a long-term client base, homeowners with 6,500-plus-square-foot residences who want to downsize to 3,000 to 5,000-square-foot homes.

He said the home epitomized high-end New York chic – a look he thought would be “cool for Fort Worth.”

Also developing

Le Bijou is one of seven Schaumburg developments in the downtown vicinity, either completed or in progress, that will impact the area both in its design and its ripple effect on the Fort Worth market, said Andy Taft, president of Downtown Fort Worth Inc.

“The urban product that Ken has designed both in downtown and Fort Worth South, demonstrates a broad command of design from Bluff Street, which is very modern, to the more classic style that he’s proposing [which] adds to the fabric of the downtown architecture,” Taft said. “I think it plays to one of downtown’s strengths, which is the diversity of architectural styles.”

Schaumburg is spreading his work’s European flavor throughout downtown, with his signature architecture evident in three completed projects, with more in the works.

All completed developments – Versailles, developed by BKX Inc.; Schaumburg Lofts; and 959 W. Bluff – are fully occupied. Waiting lists are already open for The Ruins, an upscale condominium development, and for South Village, a mixed-use community that will offer townhomes and flats. South Village, which is geared toward the hospital district and its employees, is slated for completion in January 2008. The Ruins, which has risen to 26 stories in recent design planning, is slated for completion in January 2009.

Schaumburg Architects is also exploring its options for what it calls the Left Bank, and Block TU, which has plans for a high rise, though both projects are much more long term.

“Le Bijou is definitely the most high-end townhome project that we are currently building,” Schaumburg said. “We have lesser-priced homes planned for the Southside and extremely high-end condominiums in the Ruins, both of which are coming. So we have a $400, $300 and $200 product. Le Bijou fits right in the middle.”

Regarding Le Bijou, Taft adds that the development has a strategic location, given its proximity to downtown’s core and the Intermodal Transportation Center, giving residents the opportunity to walk to their office, whether they work in downtown Fort Worth or downtown Dallas.

In addition, Le Bijou’s units may be one of the only developments to be constructed within such close proximity to Sundance Square – a result of the high cost of land, Schaumburg said.

I know everyone seems to view him as an easy punching bag, but with those same folks complaining about a lack of vision or ambition in Fort Worth development, Schamburg sure seems to be doing his best to fill that role. Even if you dislike his style, he certainly is trying to urbanize the areas y'all always want urbanized. Good for him.

I know everyone seems to view him as an easy punching bag, but with those same folks complaining about a lack of vision or ambition in Fort Worth development, Schamburg sure seems to be doing his best to fill that role. Even if you dislike his style, he certainly is trying to urbanize the areas y'all always want urbanized. Good for him.

Ruins was about five stories years ago. In DBJ a few weeks ago says its 23. Now it's 26? He goes back and forth between Ruins and TU. and does nither. Last Dec. he said the TU "looks like a go" "Sees no problem" Had meetings with the Mayor . Then with no explanation sold his stock in the project?

He says he got presales on projects then the project dies. I don't belive he trys to hurt the city or people. But hes like a just out of college kid . And wants to have it all at one time. He should let the Bass , Perot and Trump's of the world do that kind of project. And do what Schamburg can only do. By the way I do like the Ruins project . It is a "love hate" building like he says. And from the location and hight it will help our skyline. I just don't think he will pull it off. And if he does great. But don't say we had nothing to go on that he couldn't.

In the near future, the only way anyone would get $400 per foot for a condo in FW, would be if their name was Four Seasons or St. Regis. A stand-alone building won't be able to command that kind of price, even if the design is excellent (and I think The Ruins is far from it).

First, they spent some time doing ground work on the the sight. Then they dug footings, did a little sewer work and laid in a massive sheet of plastic. I assumed the plastic was a standard moisture barrier, but they hadn't graded the earth between the footings. They just left the dirt from the footings piled up and covered it with the plastic. After they poured all the footings, they went back and started cutting up the moisture barrier. and doing more plumbing and other work. Now they are grading the dirt between the footings presumably to prepare to pour the floor.

Here's my question: Doesn't that ruin the integrity of the moisture barrier? Why even mess with it if you're going to cut it all up? It seems like you would more or less want one continuous sheet of plastic under all the concrete.

Wow...it's actually being built. Does anybody know how many (or IF any) people have bought units here?

No idea.

Otherwise, I will have to give Schaumburg some props here. I've ragged on the guy as much as anybody, for the whole Ionic Breeze Tower (aka the Burnett-Plaza-to-W-Hotel Transformer) project, the (IMHO, though it may not be a widely held view) vaguely goofy looking Pecan Place/Cassidy Corner stuff, and the admittedly "love it or hate it" Ruins, but Le Bijou is actually getting built, and seems to be a good project whose appearance I can't find anything bad to say about. Congrats to Ken, and hopefully Le Bijou will be a smashing success, as bringing more interest to that section of downtown is a good thing.

I also have to admit that I find the Schaumburg Lofts to be pretty nifty, and the Versailles ain't bad. Also had no idea about those 959 W. Bluff Lofts - just stumbled across them one day. I actually feel kinda bad now for raggin' on him - Ken seems to have gotten more built that I realized.

I just realized something half-ways amusing (at least to me). If you look in the upper photo, notice the smaller red-brick building in the lower right side (400 6th St). The only two tenants on the ground floor that look directly accross to Le Bijou are two different architects (Scott Martsolf & Norman D Ward). I wonder what they make of the whole thing.

Le Bijou is certainly moving right along - the more I see of them as they near completion, the more I like them. Classy and of high-quality and great urban design, and a style not really seen in Fort Worth. Kudos to Ken!